


Discovery at Sea

by Coldau



Series: Two of them!? [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: An Introduction, Gen, Two warriors of light, idk if I'll do more fics but i felt like doing this, one is very confused, out at sea, the other is also very confused
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2020-10-06 18:27:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20511497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coldau/pseuds/Coldau
Summary: A sailor expects to find a lot of things out at sea, but a person isn't one of them.





	Discovery at Sea

Aruwata Ar’aavos never expected much when he went out to sea. Some birds. The occasional passing ship. A few friendly sea creatures that ended up as his lunch, typically…. Unless he was generous. So, needless to say, the last thing he expected was to find a _ man _out here. Floating, looking peaceful with his eyes closed. But see, there was a lot of things about this that were confusing. 

Like, the fact that they were three days out from Limsa Lominsa… or that this place was a practical deadzone to ships since it was outside any of the normal trade routes… 

How did this guy get here?

Aruwata looks to the left, then the right. Even behind him. Nothing. When he looks back at the massive au ra, though, the bastard had started to sink.

“_ Shit! _” He barks, bristling as his ears stand straight. Oh gods, Rhalgr give him strength. In the most frantic rush Aruwata has ever put himself through, he ties a rope to his waist and jumps into the water. Oh, oh gods. This was a mistake- this guy was the biggest fucking au ra he’d ever seen, his boat would probably capsize just from the sheer effort of hauling him in. Okay, it wouldn’t, but he would probably sink to the briny depths of the ocean if the rope gave.

With a mighty, mighty heave, Aruwata manages to get the muscular bastard on board, throwing him on the floor of the boat… on accident, mind you. He was an archer, not a bloody marauder. But, it seems to do the dumbass good, since he sputters and coughs from the impact. His breathing is ragged, but it didn’t sound like it was from water...

Taking in a deep breath, the massive motherfucker’s eyes open up, revealing bright red that sticks out starkly against all his dark features. It was creepy, they made him look like a voidsent or some shit. Normally you don't notice a guy's bloody eye color but he felt like it was _piercing. _

“...You okay, lad?” Aruwata squats down, tail thumping on the deck impatiently as he waits for an answer.

The stranger just looks at Aruwata, eyes round with shock, then to the sky. It was a nice, sunny day. What did he expect? It hadn’t been stormy for the past few days, if that’s what he was looking for.

“It’s all calm waters around here, don’t worry about anything blowing in to tumble us over…” Aruwata tries to soothe, but the man’s brows just furrow as he tries to sit up. He could see him running through a mental catalogue, touching his face, looking at his fingers and flexing them, doing the same to his toes within some soggy ass boots. Even grabbing his tail for good measure, looking at all the barbs on it like he was counting them. Then, he lets out a shuddering sigh and covers his face, leaning forward.

“Alright. I get you’re not the talkative type.” Aruwata scratches behind his ear, feeling awkward. Did this guy even know where he was? He seemed a little… out of it, “You want to tell me who you are? Or what you’re doing out here in the middle of the ocean?” He leans in, waiting for an answer. He kind of wanted to hear the voice this massive guy would have.

“....I’m..” Silky smooth, turns out, and so soft spoken, “My name… is… Hottataru Axirin. I hail from… Gridania.” Not with that accent, you didn’t, “Where…?”

“Gods help you, kid, you don’t know how you even got out into the middle of the bleedin’ ocean?” Now he can’t help but pity the kid a little, “I’m starting to get the picture here. Probably pissed off the wrong guy at Lominsa, got a little somethin’ somethin’ in your drink and took a nice long nap to get dumped at sea? I’ve seen a few people go like that. Usually don’t find anything but their bloated corpse being pecked at by seagulls-” He trails off, watching Hottataru go pale at the imagery- before getting sick all over his shiny deck. 

Okay, maybe he should get the poor bastard out of the sunlight.

\----------

A few hours and a cleaned deck later, Hottataru is bundled up with a canister of water cradled in his hands. The bruises under his eyes had gotten darker since he'd woken up, but at least he wasn't green at the gills anymore. Still looked worse for wear, but a lot better than before. He just murmured something about seasickness and apologized. Polite, if nothing else. 

Still, didn’t get much other information out of him aside from a little about his backstory. He’s 24, from some place in the far east called the Azim Steppes, where his father and mother watched him abandon his entire tribe in pursuit of another life. Apparently he ended up in Gridania after a good amount of travel, but what happened after that? No matter how much he probed, Hottataru's lips just sealed tight and he wouldn’t answer. Maybe it was traumatizing? 

Whatever, Aruwata wouldn’t push, but he found himself liking the kid. Whenever Hottataru talked, he would meet your eye with his own honest gaze. An honest, scary gaze. Chronic bitchface was a plague, and it infected this poor bastard at birth apparently. 

“I don’t have much supplies on here Hots, but I’ll be sure to get us to shore here soon enough. The winds are in our favor, at the very least.” Aruwata pushes to his feet, making sure he'd be okay for the night. Hottataru furrows his brow at the bastardization of his name, but doesn’t dispute it, just nodding quietly as he takes a sip from his cup. Sweet Nophica, it looked like a thimble in his hands, “Try to get some rest, I'll wake you up if it's needed. I think we have about a day and a half til' we reach Limsa. You want to go to the Yellowjackets with what happened to you or..?”

Just a slight shake of the head, and a strange, sorrowful expression was all he got as a reply. What was this kid hiding… It wasn’t anything malicious, it just made him look _ sad _more than anything. 

“...You have any plans on what you’re even going to do after this? You can’t stay in Limsa with some bloody asshole lurking there to throw you into the ocean again.” On that note, maybe Aruwata shouldn’t be getting involved with him either? They might get seen together and he’d get a big ol’ target painted on his back. 

“I’ll be alright.” Hottataru whispers back, just looking up at Aruwata. The smile he offers stirs his heart, he doubts even the gods damned Admiral would be able to not be moved by it- but it vanishes in a flash as his eyes flicker to the door. What? 

The ship rocks, water washing up against the hull of it as a storm starts to rumble outside. _ What? _ It was _ sunny _when he was outside not even ten minutes ago? How the hells- it doesn’t matter. Aruwata rushes onto the deck, prepared to get on the wheel… but the sight of their situation sends his heart plummeting through his stomach. 

Massive tentacles had surrounded the ship, one of them wrapped across its bow and crunching it. It was a Kraken. A large, powerful one, if the storm overhead was anything to go by. A cold bead of sweat rolls down the back of Aruwata’s neck.

They were going to di-

Wind rushes past him, and Aruwata only registers a blur at the edge of his vision. A second later, Hottataru is standing in the middle of a severed tentacle, a fishing harpoon driven into the ship’s deck. What? He’d moved so fast he couldn’t even _ register _him. There was a wild energy in those sharp eyes of his, red enough to be seen from across the entire fucking deck as he turns to look at Aruwata.

Ah, he understands. Was he really about to just _ give up _ just now? 30 years on this blighted world and he was just going to _ accept _it? He wasn’t a quitter. He was a captain of his own, lonesome ship with the sharpest eye in Limsa Lominsa. They were going to get out of here. He runs back inside, just in time to witness as another tentacle comes in for Hottataru’s head.

Hopefully the kid would be fine while he geared up.

Scrambling, he digs up some arrows and a bow, slinging the quiver on and dashing back out as Hottataru jumps around the deck like a gods damned spring and severs anything that comes near him. Despite how much his hands were shaking, Aruwata knocks up an arrow and gathers aether around it, letting it sail into the air and punch a hole through a fat tentacle.

They could do this. 

\-----

And they do, because after enough badgering the kraken surfaces and a single arrow between its eyes with more aether than Aruwata had ever put out slices through it at the same time that Hottataru pounces on it with the fury of a dragon. They were safe, Hottataru had motivated him to _ survive _ despite it feeling impossible. Despite it being the two of them alone at sea, despite the fact that Aruwata hadn’t ever _ fought a bloody kraken before, _and despite the fact that Hottataru himself was tired as an overworked pack chocobo. 

He barely manages to stop Hottataru from slamming onto the hard wooden deck as the storm dissipates around them, awkwardly gathering up the man twice his size in his arms and waddling back inside. Only in passing, does he notice the crystal in Hottataru’s hand, glowing with a brilliant light that felt familiar, soft. But that wasn’t his business.

There was no way he was going to let this kid go off on his own. No, he had a feeling that Hottataru was going places. Places that’d take him higher than anything Aruwata would hope to reach on his own. Wealth, fame, power- it was going to come to him in time. And Aruwata wouldn’t miss out on that.

But, more than any of that.. He liked Hottataru. He was a good kid. Quiet, strong, a little daft. Hottataru had saved Aruwata, and damn him thrice over if he was going to let that go unpaid. If nothing else, Aruwata was a loyal bastard, and every hero needed a guy to protect his back. 

And that’s just what he’ll do. 

**Author's Note:**

> I kinda got inspiration after reading a bunch of other fics and decided to try writing my own assholes. I know no one will probably read this cause it's not a ship, but I felt like writing it lmao. If I write more, I'll throw this into a series. I'll probably have ships in those, with NPCs mind you. The boys are gonna be besties uwu... but you can ship them if you want lmao.  
I'm also just looking to improve my writing, so if anyone has criticism for me please post it. This was literally just written and posted as it is, no editing, so sorry if there's errors!  
Also, in case it wasn't clear, Aruwata is a Miqo'te- but he was an orphan, so he doesn't have their usual name structure.


End file.
